Rally the Troops
by NeoVenus22
Summary: PROO, MMPR, PRNS, PRDT, PRSPD, PRMF. When the Sentinel Knight approaches Kira, she wonders if she's ready to do this job again. A 'Once A Ranger' prequel.


I'll warn you now: I haven't seen the episode in question for awhile, so if my canon is a bit loopy, I hope you won't hold it against me, and/or stick my head on a pike.

Spoilers: 'Once A Ranger'  
Disclaimer: No one mentioned belongs to me.

* * *

It wasn't as though Kira was capable of making a list of things she least expected to see standing in her living room when she returned to her apartment at nearly midnight. Making a list would require expecting them, to a degree. But even so, if she was capable, a large golden guy with a crown for a head would probably be in the top five.

"Who are you?" she demanded. Three years retired from Rangering, and she still found herself settling into a fighting stance.

"You are Kira Ford?" said Crown-Head.

"Not what I asked. One more chance, or I'm kicking you through that window." In the back of her mind, she knew she was out of practice, and even so, could probably take on a metal man only morphed.

Not that it mattered, because the light hit him differently, and she realized he was transparent. Or a hologram. But definitely not in her living room. It was very 'help me, Obi Wan'. Kira relaxed in body only.

"I am the Sentinel Knight. I've come to ask for your help."

"How are you here?" she asked, hoping for a little insight.

"I have many talents," was the reply. So, a no-go on the insight, then. "I am friends with a team of Rangers who have just had their connection to the Universal Morphing Grid severed."

"And you want my help?" she said dubiously.

"You are a former Power Ranger."

Since the operative word in that sentence was 'former', Kira saw no point in lying to him. "That's true, but I'm not the person you want to help with the Grid. I barely know what it is, much less how to fix it."

"That's not why I've asked for your assistance. My friends, the Overdrive Rangers, no longer have their powers. They require backup."

"News flash, I don't have my powers, either," said Kira. "Sorry, can't help you."

"As I said, I have many talents."

That was when Kira started glowing.

It had been years, but she recognized the feeling zooming through her body, like adrenaline trying to hit every place at once. She'd forgotten how it felt. That first rush was gone just as soon as it began, but something else replaced it, a lingering sensation of something just out of reach, not quite there, ghosting through her body like some kind of itch, but much more pleasant.

"What did you do?" she asked, although it was rhetorical. She knew what he'd done.

"I have restored your powers for the time being. You are now capable of morphing into a Power Ranger at any time."

Kira couldn't answer him.

"Will you help?" asked the Sentinel Knight.

Kira stared at him, wishing he had a face, because it was weird talking to a helmet. Even when Dr. O had been trapped in morph, she could still remember what he _looked_ like. "I can't do this alone," she attempted to explain. With her powers back, her hesitance was rapidly melting away. She felt the urge for a Ptera-scream rising in her throat, wondering if he'd given her that ability, too. She burned to try, but figured doing do in the middle of the night in a five-story apartment building was not the wisest option.

"You won't. There are others who will help."

"Who--" she started.

"I have to go. You are not my only visit tonight." Like the ghosts in A Christmas Carol, she thought absently, particularly as he shimmered away. "Thank you for your assistance, Yellow Ranger. You will find out the rest soon enough."

Whatever _that_ meant.

Kira stared at the spot where the Knight had been, wondering what the hell was going on. She went into her bedroom, located her jewelry box, and the clunky and uncool silver bracelet hidden within. No gem. No powers. But she muttered the command for it to change, and then she was holding a morpher in hand, familiar yellow pterodactyl staring unseeingly up at her.

"Sorry, girl," she whispered, thinking sadly that while the Sentinel Knight may have had the power to restore her powers, she doubted he had the ability to bring back to life her destroyed Zord.

Melancholy though the thought made her, she couldn't help but feel a little buzz of excitement. She hadn't wanted the power when she'd first gotten it, true, and the double life had exhausted her, but she couldn't deny that she'd done a lot of good. Nor could she ignore how helpless she felt knowing evil on that scale still existed in this world, and she was, quite literally, powerless to stop it.

But not anymore.

* * *

The following morning, Kira slept through her alarm and as she stumbled her way through brewing a pot of coffee, she wondered if she'd booked any studio time for today (she assumed not, because if she had, her producer Aaron would've sent a rescue mission to her apartment by then).

_Spoke too soon_, she thought, as her cell phone rang. The caller ID claimed the Cyberspace. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Hayley."

"What's up?"

"Would you mind coming down here, if you're free? You have some visitors."

"Any of them golden holograms?" she muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, sorry. Haven't had my coffee yet."

"Well, you know, we serve many caffeine-laced confections here," Hayley offered. "And you know my policy."

"Rangers drink free?" Kira laughed. "Good thing you don't know that many Rangers."

"Funny you should say that. It turns out my circle is expanding," said Hayley mysteriously, and hung up.

Kira sighed and rubbed at her forehead. Her week was certainly off to an ominous start.

* * *

To Hayley's credit, she greeted Kira's arrival at the Cyberspace with her favorite drink already made for her. "Your guests are waiting," she said.

Kira took her lips off the straw for a moment. "Huh?"

Hayley pointed at the couch in the corner, where Kira saw a tall (but admittedly cute) guy she didn't know, and... "Tori?"

"Hey, Kira," said Tori, getting to her feet and pulling her fellow former Ranger into a hug. "Sorry about this. I wasn't sure how to reach you, but I figured Hayley would know."

"Of course," said Kira, "Hayley knows everything."

"This is--" Tori gestured at the guy, who stuck out his hand.

"Xander, Xander Bly," he said, beaming at her. He had an Australian accent and a fantastic smile, not that Kira was noticing.

"Kira," she said. "Um, Tori? What..?"

Tori glanced over Kira's shoulder to make sure they weren't inviting any undue attention, not that Hayley's was super-busy on a weekday morning once school had started. Her nervousness triggered something in Kira's brain, making her wonder if this was about the visitor she'd had the night before.

"Here, sit down," said Tori, and Kira crammed onto the small couch with them, not entirely sure who Xander was or why he was there. "Xander's one of _us_," she whispered, her inflection and head nod speaking volumes.

"A Ranger?"

In turn, Xander reached into his pocket and pulled out a palm-sized object. It was different from hers or Dr. O's or the ninja Rangers, but Kira knew a morpher when she saw one. "Mystic Force Green Ranger, from Briarwood," Xander confirmed.

"He came to find me after getting a very strange visitor the other day."

"Big gold guy with a helmet?" said Kira.

"That's the one," said Xander.

"Called himself the Sentinel Knight," said Tori. "He said he'd come to you."

"He did, and scared the hell out of me at first. He came to you guys, too? Gave you your powers back?"

"I never lost mine," said Xander, looking sheepish.

"You're still active?" said Tori, surprised.

"Capable of morphing, yes, but I wouldn't call it _active_..."

"Okay, here's something I don't understand," said Kira, not wanting to be distracted by why he might still have his powers. "All right, let's be fair, there's a lot of this I don't understand. Why us? No offense or anything, I'm sure we were all decent Rangers..."

"...but I haven't done this in four years," said Tori. "I know what you mean."

"And why _me_?" said Kira. "I mean, you still have your powers, and you're a freaking ininja/i."

"You're a ninja?" said Xander, raising his eyebrows.

"Sensei, actually," said Tori. "Not that it matters."

"She's being humble," said Kira. "She's a water master."

"_Really_. You should meet my friend Madison, she has water powers."

"Does she? Does she go to an academy?"

"What? No, no academy. She's a wizard." Xander eyed them both in a speculative fashion. "Did I mention I'm a wizard, too?"

"What, like Harry Potter?" said Kira, wondering if she should be impressed or find this hilarious. A little bit of both.

"Only if he wore spandex." Xander grinned at her in a way that made her wonder if he was flirting, or just naturally friendly. "Okay, so a ninja, a wizard, and a..?"

"A singer," Kira supplied.

"With a wicked scream," said Tori.

"But that died when the gems were destroyed. Which brings me back to my original point: why me? No extraordinary abilities or special training, and three years powerless."

"Because you're cute?" offered Xander.

Kira colored slightly; okay, he _was_ flirting. "Uh, thanks, but I don't think that qualifies." She glanced at Tori, but her friend only smirked. "So there's no connection," she said. "Weird."

"Maybe there's one we don't know about yet," said Xander. "What do we know about these new Rangers?"

"Oh! I can't believe I didn't figure it out until now. Ethan sent me a link to a YouTube video awhile back; they did an interview on a morning show."

"They what with the what?" said Xander.

"Yeah, come on, I'll show you," said Kira, leading them to a computer in the back of the abandoned alcove. She was being excessively paranoid despite the sparse patronage of the Cyberspace. Old habits died hard, she supposed. She did a quick search and popped up a video of six people on a talk show called _Good Morning, San Angeles_.

"Wow," said Xander. "Full names and everything."

Kira frowned, thinking of all the times she had to duck and hide and lie. "Remember when hiding your identity was everything? What I would've given just to tell one person the truth and not have to try and keep all my stories straight."

"Tell me about it. Missing out on half your life and then having to lie about it and disappoint everyone just sucks." Tori offered Kira a rueful smile. "But new Rangers, new rules, I guess."

"Look at it this way," said Xander. "For once, they're actually getting the credit they deserve."

"Not that it matters anyway, if they can't morph," said Tori. "So now what are we supposed to do?"

"The Sentinel Knight said there were two others," said Xander. "One of them runs a dojo in Angel Grove, I think."

Something clicked in Kira's brain. "Hold on one sec," she said, getting up and leaving a bewildered Tori and Xander behind as she approached Hayley at the counter. "Hales, one of Dr. O's friends runs a dojo in his old hometown, right?"

If Hayley thought this was a weird question, she didn't say anything about it. "Two, actually. Jason and Adam."

Kira tried to have the names match up with what she remembered from Dr. O's Ranger history video, but it had been too long. "And they're both..."

"Rangers?" said Hayley, cocking an eyebrow. "Yes. Kira, is everything all right?"

"Everything's fine. I'm just doing a little extra research on something, that's all. I'll explain everything later, I promise. But can you get me those two addresses, maybe? Please?"

It wasn't as though she didn't trust Hayley with her secret. It was Hayley, after all, and if Dr. O trusted her with an entire legacy of Power Rangers, then this, if anything, was merely the next chapter in that legacy, and something Hayley was well qualified to know. But something about the whole scenario had her a little ill at ease. It probably had to do with the whole _Good Morning, San Angeles_ business. These Rangers were outing themselves. And not accidentally, either; their appearance on the morning show wasn't damage control, it was acknowledgment of an existing truth, one they had never bothered to hide. Kira knew that her secret life had always been a liability. If Elsa or Mesogog had ever found out the truth, it could have jeopardized everything. Not just for Kira and the others, but for her family. For Tommy's entire circle of friends. Having your identity known meant your weaknesses were suddenly a lot more public.

She meant what she'd said. She'd tell Hayley, and the rest of her team, the whole truth later. But not before she got some answers. She took the sheet of paper that Hayley passed her, and bought it back to her new team (if she could call them that). "Dojo owners in Angel Grove, both former Rangers. One of them is our guy."

Xander, not missing a beat, peered around Kira at Hayley, who had her back to them in order to blend a smoothie. "What else does she know?" he asked curiously.

"Enough," she said, grabbing his arm and dragging him to his feet. "Let's get a move on. If we start now, we can make good time."

"Oh, we don't have to worry about that," said Xander, positively beaming.

"Why's that?" asked Tori.

"Wizard, remember?"

* * *

"I just walked through a tree," marveled Kira. She planted both feet firmly in the grass, glad for steady ground, even if the trip had been short. Xander had assured them it was a perfectly harmless mode of travel, not at all dangerous, but that didn't make it any less unsettling. Her stomach churned for just a second. Her brain churned for longer. "I just walked _through_ a _tree_."

"Yep," said Xander, nonplussed.

Tori shrugged, equally unimpressed. "I walk through a waterfall on my way to work every morning."

"That has got to be the weirdest thing I've ever done," said Kira.

"You had a telepathic connection with a giant robot dinosaur, and _that's_ the weirdest thing you've ever done?"

"That's pretty cool," said Xander. "I just turned into my Zord."

"I'm beginning to think I drew the short end of the Rangering stick," said Kira, surprised to find herself actually disappointed. She couldn't wait to tell Conner and Ethan about the Mystic Force Rangers; they'd be insanely jealous. Well, Ethan would. Conner would just scoff at the capes.

Kira felt a twinge of guilt. She hadn't talked to either of her best friends in awhile, or Trent or Dr. O, or even Hayley (who at least plied her with free drinks for the pleasure of her company). She'd been too busy with recording, and now she was running off to do this. It didn't seem fair that she get her powers back through some random roll of the dice, and not them. They were just as good at it as she was. Maybe better. And she knew, though they'd never talked about explicitly besides the one time shortly after the initial loss, that they missed it. It was a longing that faded over time, but being a Power Ranger, even a retired one, was a part of them. All of them. Kira didn't know how she was going to do this without them.

"Is it fair?" she asked, as their trio made their way across the park in which they'd arrived.

"Is what fair?" said Tori.

"Us. This. Strangers. Us getting our powers back, well, except for Xander," she amended, "while everyone else on our team gets nothing. No offense to you guys, but I'm used to working with Dr. O and everyone. It's... weird."

"I get what you mean," said Tori. "I don't know how I'm gonna feel about looking around and seeing you two and not Dustin and Cam."

"The cape should set me apart," said Xander solemnly.

Kira couldn't stop the giggling rising in her throat. "I know Dustin likes to wear his skirt, you might have some problems confusing the two of us."

"Man, I hate the stupid skirt," said Tori. "You know, it only just occurred to me, but it's going to be so great to have another girl around for once."

"And an end to the endless testosterone fest? Tell me about it," said Kira, rolling her eyes.

"I take offense to that," said Xander. They ignored him.

"And, you know, at least your uniform is sort of cool-looking," said Kira. "Mine is just the boys' uniform, and someone said, 'Wait, she's a girl? Slap a skirt on there!' at the last minute and didn't even think about how it might actually look on a person. Plus, I have wings."

"Well, you can fly."

"But I have _wings_." Kira grinned a little and got one in return. It felt weirdly good to talk about these things with someone who understood, and she wondered why she had never tried to be better friends with Tori.

"If you two are done," said Xander, and while Kira didn't know him well, she could tell he was verging on exasperation, "we're here."

Kira pulled up next to Xander's elbow to read the paper he was holding. "Is this Adam's place or Jason's?" she asked.

"Doesn't say."

"How will we know who we're looking for, anyway?" said Tori.

"Look for the guy who looks like he's in charge?" said Kira, hoping she'd be able to recognize someone from Dr. O's video. As it turned out, looking for the guy who looked like he was in charge was the easiest plan; they entered just as a class was bowing out and thanking Master Park.

They waited until he'd broken away from his students before approaching. "Excuse me," said Tori, "but are you Adam Park?"

Mr. Park took one look at them and said, "Let me guess, Rangers?"

"How'd you know?" asked Kira, glancing sidelong at Xander.

"Color-coded," he smirked. "Old habits die hard. Well, that, and the Sentinel Knight came to visit me this morning to give me my powers back, and said you were on the way."

"Well, that was easy," said Xander.

"Your timing is great, because the last of our team just got here," said Mr. Park. Kira wondered who it might be, since she was beginning to get the impression she had even less information than anyone else. A part of her hoped it'd be another familiar face, someone who just hadn't bothered to mention other, just as she hadn't bothered to mention to anyone else, that hey, they were gonna start Rangering again.

Instead, a guy in a gray uniform with red stripes and a big, shiny badge came out of what looked to be Mr. Park's office. "Hi, it's good to see you guys. I know all about you, this is actually really a pleasure. You're Tori, you're blue, I was blue not that long ago; you're Xander, you're green, I was green for awhile too, actually; and you're Kira, and you're yellow, and we've met before, except you're not supposed to remember it, which actually probably means I shouldn't have told you, so forget all of it. Well, not the part about what everyone's colors are, but... the rest of it."

Kira stared. "Who are you?"

"Oh! Bridge Carson, SPD Red Ranger. Call me Bridge."

"SPD..?" said Xander.

"Space Patrol Delta," said Bridge.

"Where are you from?"

"The future," he said cheerfully. "Oh, you meant a place."

"Excuse me?" said Tori. "The _future_?"

"Maybe we should be discussing this elsewhere?" suggested Mr. Park, gesturing in the direction of the office Bridge had come out of. Wordlessly, the five Rangers tramped inside and stood around the slightly cluttered desk, invading each other's personal space a little too much. Kira's elbow brushed Xander's arm and he smiled down at her. "So what do we know?" Mr. Park asked.

"Well, he's from the future, for a start," said Tori.

"Which, I hate to say, is not the weirdest part of this arrangement," said Mr. Park. "Okay, I'm Adam Park, I'm from the original team of Rangers, more or less."

"You went to school with Dr. O," said Kira.

"Wait, you're one of Tommy's kids?"

"That makes it sounds like he's my father or something," she said, which was too weird to contemplate. "But yeah, we were on the same team."

"If anyone would start doing this job again, it'd be Tommy," said Mr. Park, shaking his head. "You know how it goes. Once a Ranger, always a Ranger." That certainly added a lot of credence to what the five of them were doing there, she thought. Before she could take a moment to truly contemplate that, he continued, "So you're from the Dino Thunder team."

"Yeah. Kira," she said, with a wave, even though weirdly enough, if what Bridge had said was true, everyone in the room knew her already. "Wondering why we're here."

"Why are any of us here?" said Xander, with a smile and a shrug. "To save the day."

"Precisely," said another voice, and Kira turned to find the Sentinel Knight glowing behind her. How disturbing. She hoped this wasn't going to be a recurring thing. "Rangers, I'm very glad you've assembled yourselves. The Overdrive Rangers are in danger, and your assistance is needed immediately. I can take you there myself, but that is the last of my powers."

"The rest is up to us," said Kira, not entirely meaning to speak out loud and only realizing she had when everyone turned to look at her. "I mean, five Rangers who have never worked together before?" she voiced her concerns. "It'll be rough."

"Or, it could be five completely different sets of abilities, and five fresh perspectives," offered Xander with a gentle smile. "Not all bad, right?"

What threw Kira off was how _into_ it they all seemed to be. Once a Ranger, always a Ranger, and all that. She remembered the first time, fighting with skills she didn't know she had, using her Ptera-scream and having it scare the ever-loving crap out of her, putting the gem into Conner's hands and insisting that was it, she was done. It was scary and exhausting and she was only seventeen. She hadn't wanted that power, much less known what to do with it. She hadn't been given a choice.

She'd taken too long to respond. They were all staring at her (or, in the Sentinel Knight's case, as much staring as could be accomplished by an expressionless helmet). "You have hesitations," he pronounced.

"I..." Oh, well, no point in lying. "I haven't _done_ this. I was never meant to be a fighter or anything. You have two active Rangers, and two martial arts masters, why do you need _me_? There's got to be someone else more qualified."

"Hey." Tori elbowed her playfully. "I've fought with you before, remember? You're tough stuff. Don't sell yourself short."

"You've fought against me before, too," Kira reminded her.

"Yeah, and I wouldn't want to go through that again," she grinned.

"I've gotten my powers back before," said Mr. Park. "The circumstances were a little different, of course, but I can tell you, it's kinda like riding a bike."

"If you substitute 'bike' with 'roundhouse kick'," said Bridge.

"You might need a minute to adjust," said Xander, touching her shoulder, "but no worries. We've got your back."

"We haven't a moment to waste, Rangers," said the Sentinel Knight, almost sounding apologetic.

Kira stared down at her wrist, the silver bracelet she'd almost forgotten, the crater in the middle of it. Dr. O had finally given their gems to the museum, and they'd only looked back in silly 'remember when...' sessions. She thought at the time that she'd be done. Then again, looking at Dr. O, she wondered if anyone was ever really done.

Kira hadn't been given a choice before.

She couldn't say she didn't have one now.

She touched the gap where the gem used to rest, thought of Conner and Ethan and Trent and Dr. O and Hayley, and wished they were here to help her, or at least to wish her good luck, and she nodded at the others, her new team. "Then let's not waste a moment," she said. "Let's do this."

"Excellent," said the Sentinel Knight.

And then they were gone.


End file.
